THE  REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  TUCKER 
COVERING  HIS  ADMINISTRATION 


ISSUED  TO  THE  ALUMNI 


-•■'•'-"■.-■    ■■"1-  .■'.-•*■-■.■•         - 

■r^::"- :  Wm  ■  H 

\  ••:,■:,■■■'  '■'■'■■■  ■'-■■■  ..-.-, 


SglS 


Si 


Ma 


THE  REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  TUCKER 
COVERING  HIS  ADMINISTRATION 


ISSUED  TO  THE  ALUMNI 


»™*s,ryOF,LUNo|s 

•wwrofnu,,,, 


PUBLISHED   BY  DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE 
JUNE  30,  1909 


REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  TUCKER 


To  the  Alumni  of  Dartmouth  College: 

As  my  acceptance  of  the  presidency  in  1893  was 
associated  with  what  was  then  known  as  "The  Alumni 
Movement,"  the  Trustees  have  thought  it  fit  that  upon 
my  retirement  I  should  make  a  separate  and  somewhat 
comprehensive  report  to  you  concerning  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  college  during  the  period  of  my  incum- 
bency. In  submitting  this  report  I  do  not  care  to  dwell 
upon  outward  results  further  than  may  be  necessary 
by  way  of  illustration.  I  am  anxious  rather  that  you 
should  understand  the  principles  according  to  which 
the  college  has  been  administered  during  a  well  de- 
fined, and  in  some  respects  dangerous,  period  in  its 
history,  namely,  the  period  of  reconstruction  and 
expansion.  Such  periods  are  manifestly  essential  to 
the  progress  of  our  older  educational  institutions. 
Whenever  the  general  system  of  which  they  are  a  part 
demands  of  them  readjustment  and  expansion  the  risks 
of  inertia  are  far  greater  than  the  risks  of  innovation. 
I  know  of  but  one  qualification  to  this  statement  — 
the  treatment  must  be  constructive.  Lord  Curzon  has 
remarked  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  University  of  Oxford 
on  the  Principles  and  Methods  of  University  Reform, 


2        REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  TUCKER 

"We  may  learn  from  the  experience  of  previous  Com- 
missions that  successful  reform  at  Oxford  has  almost 
invariably  originated  in  reconstruction  rather  than 
in  destruction;  and  that  the  institutions  which  last 
the  longest  and  work  the  best  are  those  which  have 
been  erected  on  older  foundations,  or,  under  skillful 
treatment,  have  assumed  fresh  and  harmonious 
shapes." 

As  I  interpreted  the  needs  of  the  college,  when  I 
assumed  the  presidency,  the  policy  of  reconstruction 
with  a  view  to  expansion  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  only 
adequate  policy.  There  were  at  that  time  certain 
facts  of  very  great  educational  importance  to  be  con- 
sidered: the  vast  extension  of  the  subject-matter  of 
the  higher  education,  involving  corresponding  ad- 
vances in  the  methods  of  instruction ;  the  rapid  growth 
of  high  schools  as  fitting  schools  for  the  colleges,  vir- 
tually creating  a  new  college  constituency;  and  the 
sudden  increase  of  endowments  and  appropriations 
for  colleges  and  universities,  making  itself  felt  not  so 
much  in  competition  as  through  an  enlarged  scale  of 
expenditure.  It  was  impossible  to  ignore  or  evade  any 
one  of  these  facts.  The  obligation  resting  upon  an 
historic  college  like  Dartmouth  to  preserve  its  well- 
recognized  individuality  was  no  more  evident  nor  im- 
perative than  was  the  requirement  that  it  should  relate 
itself  efficiently  to  its  new  educational  environment. 


COVERING    HIS    ADMINISTRATION  3 

I 

Immediate  consideration  was  given  by  the  trustees  to 
the  adoption  of  a  financial  policy  sufficient  to  meet  this 
requirement  and  at  the  same  time  consistent  with  the 
traditions  of  the  college.  The  traditions  of  the  college 
had  in  most  ways  stood  for  self-reliance.  It  was  as- 
sumed that  there  could  be  little  financial  risk  in  any 
course  of  expansion  carried  out  under  the  limits  im- 
posed by  these  traditions.  The  financial  policy  there- 
fore adopted  was  not  made  to  depend  upon  a  campaign 
of  general  solicitation  at  the  beginning  or  at  any  later 
time. 

That  I  may  not  be  misunderstood  in  what  I  have  just 
said,  or  in  what  may  follow,  I  will  now  say  that  I  con- 
sider the  solicitation  of  funds  one  of  the  legitimate 
functions  of  a  college  presidency.  I  am  quite  ready  to 
allow  that  my  failure  to  employ  this  function  to  any 
considerable  extent  may  be  regarded  as  a  weakness  in 
my  administration.  The  larger  benefactions  of  recent 
years  have  not  been  the  result  of  my  personal  efforts. 
Having  made  this  confession  I  feel  free  to  add  that 
in  my  judgment  the  theory  that  a  college  is  an  elee- 
mosynary institution,  while  holding  a  permanent 
truth,  should  never  be  permitted  to  repress  the  am- 
bition nor  to  lessen  the  sense  of  responsibility  on  the 
part  of  any  college  to  make  itself  so  far  as  possible 
a  self-supporting  institution.  The  colleges  which 
antedate  the  State  Universities  have  three  sources  of 


4  REPORT     OF     PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

support,  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in  the  following  order 
of  importance :  first,  the  earning  capacity  of  the  col- 
lege; second,  the  free  though  perhaps  organized  tribute 
of  those  who  have  profited  by  its  advantages;  third, 
the  good-will  of  a  large  constituency  associated  with 
each  college  through  its  history  or  through  its  activi- 
ties. The  essential  thing  in  the  financial  development 
of  a  college  I  believe  to  be  the  order  in  which  its  re- 
sources are  utilized.  The  antecedent  conditions  on 
which  a  well-established  college  may  appeal  to  the 
larger  public  are  the  assurance  that  its  earning  capacity 
has  been  properly  developed,  and  some  clear  evidence 
of  the  generous  support  of  its  alumni. 

Sharing  in  the  sentiments  which  I  have  expressed, 
the  trustees  proceeded  at  once  to  develop  the  earning 
capacity  of  the  college  through  the  construction  of  a 
college  plant  of  modern  character  and  proportion. 
Owing  to  the  location  of  the  college  a  part  of  this  work 
was  of  necessity  fundamental.  The  immediate  prob- 
lems to  be  considered  were  such  as  belonged  directly 
to  a  college  of  the  country,  —  water  supply,  heat,  light, 
and  the  general  questions  of  sanitation. 

In  the  fall  of  1893  an  abundant  supply  of  water  was 
introduced  into  the  precinct  of  Hanover  at  a  cost  of 
$65,000,  the  college  investing  $25,000  and  the  precinct 
$20,000,  the  remaining  $20,000  being  bonded.  At  a 
later  period  the  entire  water  shed  of  about  fourteen 
hundred  acres  surrounding  the  reservoir  was  pur- 
chased at  a  cost  of  $34,000.     The  whole  investment, 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  5 

which  was  a  sanitary  necessity,  has  proved  to  be  valu- 
able pecuniarily. 

In  1898  a  heating  plant  was  established  at  a  cost  of 
$77,000,  now  containing  a  battery  of  eight  boilers  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  horse  power  each,  operat- 
ing through  7900  feet  of  steam  pipe  and  heating  thirty- 
nine  college  buildings. 

In  1904  an  electric  lighting  plant  was  added,  at  a 
cost  of  $34,000,  running  at  present  three  dynamos  of 
75  K.  W.  each  and  equipped  for  power  service  wherever 
needed  in  the  college,  as  well  as  for  lighting. 

In  providing  for  the  departments  of  instruction,  new 
and  old,  it  was  planned  that  each  department  or  each 
related  group  of  departments  should  have  its  own 
building  constructed  with  reference  to  its  special 
needs.  Following  this  plan,  the  Butterfield  Museum 
was  built  in  1895  for  the  departments  of  Geology, 
Biology,  and  Sociology;  Wilder  Hall  in  1897  for  the 
department  of  Physics;  the  Chandler  Building  (re- 
modeled) in  1898  for  the  departments  of  Mathematics 
and  Engineering;  Tuck  Hall  in  1902  for  the  Tuck 
School,  but  providing  also  for  the  departments  of 
History,  Economics,  and  Political  Science;  Dart- 
mouth Hall,  rebuilt  by  the  Alumni  in  1904,  for  the 
departments  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Languages, 
and  Philosophy;  and  Webster  Hall  erected  by  the 
Alumni  in  1907  for  the  use  of  the  college  on  all 
academic  occasions.  At  the  date  of  writing,  plans 
have  been   accepted   for    a    New  Gymnasium    to   be 


6        REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  TUCKER 

built  from  funds  contributed  chiefly  by  the  younger 
Alumni. 

The  creation  of  a  college  plant  in  a  village  like 
Hanover  involved  the  problem  of  housing  and  other- 
wise caring  for  students  as  well  as  of  providing 
adequate  lecture  rooms  and  laboratories.  With  the 
natural  increase  of  students  the  resources  of  the  village 
were  quickly  exhausted.  And  the  increase  of  students 
made  it  necessary  that  the  sanitary  conditions  should 
be  guaranteed  by  the  college  authorities.  One  of  the 
marked  advantages  of  the  dormitory  system  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  allows  the  closest  physical  inspection,  an 
advantage  which  has  been  abundantly  proved  by  the 
health  of  the  students  under  the  inspection  maintained 
by  Dr.  Kingsford,  the  Medical  Director.  Since  the  old 
dormitories,  Thornton,  Wentworth,  Reed,  and  Hall- 
garten,  accommodating  about  two  hundred  students, 
were  outgrown,  the  order  of  new  dormitories  with  their 
accommodations  is  as  follows:  Sanborn  House  (fifty 
students),  1894;  Crosby  House  (fifty-five),  1896; 
Richardson  (fifty),  1897;  Fayerweather  (eighty-five), 
1899;  Hubbard  House  (twenty),  1899;  College  Hall, 
including  Club  House  and  Commons  (forty),  1900; 
Elm  House  (twenty),  1903;  Wheeler  (ninety-eight), 
1904;  Hubbard  No.  2  (forty-eight),  1906;  Fayer- 
weather North  and  South  (one  hundred),  1906;  Mas- 
sachusetts (eighty-eight),  1907;  New  Hampshire  (one 
hundred  and  seven),  1908. 

The  newer  buildings  making  up  the  college  plant 


COVERING     HIS     ADMINISTRATION  7 

have  been  equally  divided  between  non-productive 
and  productive  buildings.  The  non-productive  build- 
ings have  been  in  all  cases  erected  out  of  funds  which 
came  to  the  college  by  bequest  or  by  gift  for  the  uses 
to  which  they  were  put,  —  Butterfield,  Wilder,  Chand- 
ler, Tuck,  New  Dartmouth,  and  Webster.  The  pro- 
ductive buildings,  including  most  of  the  dormitories, 
have  been  built  as  investments.  The  amount  thus 
invested  during  the  period  of  reconstruction  was 
$901,000,  including  cost  of  improvements,  like  water 
supply,  heat,  and  electricity.  Had  the  trustees  limited 
the  growth  of  the  college  to  the  results  attending  the 
solicitation  of  funds  for  productive  buildings  they 
would  have  restricted  the  college  to  the  fortune  of 
charity,  or  have  given  over  the  dormitory  system  to 
private  enterprise.  I  shall  refer  later  to  the  significance 
of  the  control  of  the  dormitory  system  as  affecting  the 
social  life  of  the  college.  I  am  at  present  concerned 
with  the  financial  results  of  the  creation  of  the  college 
plant  by  the  use  of  invested  funds  in  cases  where 
an  equivalent  income  could  be  assured.  The  net  re- 
ceipts in  1893  from  tuition  were  $18,188.79,  in  1908 
they  were  $130,520.32.  Within  this  period  the  tuition 
was  advanced  from  $96.00  per  annum  to  $125.00;  but 
the  main  increase  was  due  to  the  growth  of  the  col- 
lege, which  really  represented  the  earning  capacity  of 
the  college  plant.  For  a  detailed  statement  of  the  cost 
of  the  college  plant,  as  well  as  for  a  complete  historical 
statement  in  regard  to  college  funds,  the  alumni  are 


8        REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  TUCKER 

referred  to  authorized  articles  in  the  Dartmouth  Bi- 
Monthly  for  1907-8,  entitled,  The  Resources  and  Ex- 
penditures of  Dartmouth  College.  The  Trustees  will 
issue  in  connection  with  the  next  treasurer's  report  an 
inventory  of  the  college  properties  of  which  I  am 
permitted  to  give  the  following  summary :  college  plant 
independent  of  investments,  $1,014,000;  college  plant 
represented  in  investments,  $901,000;  general  invest- 
ments, $2,041,000;  total,  $3,956,000. 

As  I  shall  not  have  occasion  to  refer  hereafter  to  the 
college  plant,  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  alumni 
to  our  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Charles  A.  Rich  of  the 
class  of  1875,  who  has  been  the  college  architect 
since  1893 ;  to  Mr.  Alexander  A.  McKenzie  of  the  class 
of  1891,  superintendent  of  buildings  from  1893  till  his 
death  in  1904 ;  and  to  Mr.  Edgar  H.  Hunter  of  the  class 
of  1901,  superintendent  of  buildings  since  1904.  The 
skill  and  tact  of  Mr.  Rich  have  been  tested  by  such 
various  results  as  the  building  of  laboratories  and 
dormitories,  the  planning  of  the  College  Club  and 
Commons,  the  conversion  of  old-time  residences  into 
college  "Houses,"  the  construction  of  Webster,  and 
the  reconstruction  of  Dartmouth.  These  are  the  evi- 
dences of  his  professional  ability,  but  they  represent  in 
small  part  only  his  unselfish  gift  of  thought  and  time 
to  plans  which  have  never  materialized.  The  super- 
intendence of  buildings  has  from  the  first  represented 
a  large  element  of  construction.  The  heating  plant 
is  virtually  a  memorial  to  Mr.  McKenzie.     North  and 


COVERING     HIS     ADMINISTRATION  9 

South  Fayerweather,  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire, 
and  the  New  Medical  Laboratory  were  built  immedi- 
ately by  Mr.  Hunter,  who  will  have  charge  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  New  Gymnasium. 

The  efforts  which  have  been  made  to  enlist  the  grad- 
uates of  the  college  in  its  support,  which  I  doubt  not 
have  seemed  to  you  to  be  unremitting,  have  been  based 
on  the  sentiment  that  self-respect  is  as  becoming  to  a 
college  as  to  a  family  or  to  an  individual,  and  that  the 
chief  factor  which  justifies  self-respect  is  self-support. 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  invoke  and  stimulate  this  spirit 
on  all  proper  occasions.  I  have  had  no  other  concep- 
tion of  what  is  called  college  spirit  than  that  it  is  the 
spirit  of  self-respect,  and  as  such,  something  to  be 
awakened  in  undergraduates  and  steadily  maintained 
in  after  years.  The  graduates  up  to  1898  will  recall 
a  weekly  exercise,  held  in  the  Old  Chapel,  known  as 
"rhetoricals,"  a  somewhat  unruly  exercise,  open  to 
various  liabilities,  but  affording  the  rare  opportunity 
of  indoctrinating  undergraduates  into  the  permanent 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  college  fellowship. 
When  this  exercise  was  abolished  Dartmouth  Night 
was  instituted.  Occasions  like  the  Webster  Centen- 
nial, or  the  visit  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  in  connection 
with  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the  New  Dart- 
mouth Hall,  have  been  made  helpful  in  affecting  in  the 
same  way  "the  mind  of  the  college,"  whether  under- 
graduate or  graduate.  The  organization  of  associa- 
tions and  clubs  throughout  the  country,  the  increased 


10  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

attendance  at  the  reunion  of  classes  at  Commence- 
ment, the  frequent  visits  of  graduates,  singly  or  in 
groups,  at  Hanover  have  been  of  service  in  bringing  the 
alumni  into  closer  and  more  responsible  relations  to 
the  college,  and  more  especially,  exigencies  through 
which  the  college  has  passed,  like  the  burning  of  Dart- 
mouth Hall.  It  has  been  noted  that  two  of  the  most 
valuable  halls  erected  within  the  last  ten  years  were 
the  collective  gift  of  the  alumni,  and  that  the  fund  for 
the  New  Gymnasium  is  being  gathered  from  the 
alumni  at  large.  The  alumni  fund  for  scholarship 
and  instruction,  to  which  my  name  has  been  attached, 
very  much  to  my  honor,  represents,  through  its  con- 
stant and  cumulative  operation,  the  worth  of  the 
collective  support  of  the  alumni.  I  am  sure  that  indi- 
vidual gifts  of  increasing  value  are  on  their  way  to  the 
college.  The  noble  benefaction  of  Edward  Tuck, 
class  of  1862,  of  $300,000  (now  $500,000),  exclusively 
for  instruction,  is  a  stimulating  force  working  quietly 
but  effectively  throughout  our  graduate  fellowship. 

I  think  that  the  conditions  to  which  I  have  referred 
as  antecedent  to  an  appeal  to  wider  interests  have 
been  reasonably  met.  I  see  no  reason  why  the  college 
is  not  now  justified  in  calling  upon  its  larger  constit- 
uency for  the  broadening  and  deepening  of  its  plans. 
In  illustration,  I  refer  to  the  present  attitude  of  the 
state  of  New  Hampshire  to  the  college.  Since  1893 
the  state  has  made  an  annual  appropriation  to  the 
college    amounting,    since    1903,    to    $20,000    a   year. 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  11 

The  usual  preamble  under  which  the  appropriation 
has  been  made  is  as  follows: 

Whereas,  in  the  education  of  New  Hampshire  students, 
Dartmouth  College  is  annually  expending  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  above  all  amounts  received  for  tuition 
or  from  grants  by  the  state  or  its  citizens,  and  whereas  the 
policy  of  aiding  the  college  in  educational  work  by  annual 
appropriations  has  become  definitely  established  by  the 
state  —  Be  it  enacted  .  .  . 

II 

The  educational  policy  pursued  during  these  years 
of  expansion  has  been  in  some  respects  the  converse 
of  its  financial  policy.  Whereas  the  financial  policy 
was  based  upon  the  principle  of  developing  to  their 
full  extent  the  internal  resources  of  the  college,  the 
educational  policy  was  based  upon  the  principle  of 
receiving  freely  of  the  most  helpful  aid  from  without. 
The  danger  of  all  educational  institutions  is  provin- 
cialism. The  pursuit  of  knowledge,  like  any  pursuit 
calling  for  equal  separateness  of  work  of  a  high  order, 
tends  to  exclusiveness  of  spirit.  The  remedy  for  aca- 
demic exclusiveness  has  not  been  found  in  greater 
contact  with  the  affairs  of  the  world.  The  spirit  of 
affairs  can  never  be  made  entirely  congenial  with  the 
spirit  of  research.  A  partial  corrective  of  the  exclu- 
siveness of  the  academic  worker  may  be  found  in  the 
presence  and  stimulus  of  other  workers  of  his  kind, 
provided  the  work  of  each  is  sufficiently  unrelated. 
The  introduction  of  new  subject-matter  into  the  thought 


12  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

of  an  academic  community  widens  its  intellectual  hori- 
zon quite  as  much  as  greater  contact  with  the  outside 
world. 

The  old  college  (like  others  of  its  time,  a  college  of 
the  humanities)  had  never  been  inhospitable  to  science, 
but  the  sciences  had  for  the  most  part  been  accepted 
as  a  means  of  utility  rather  than  as  a  means  of  culture. 
A  very  considerable  part  of  the  expansion  which  has 
been  affected  has  been  due  to  the  development,  or  in 
some  cases  to  the  practical  creation,  of  the  scientific 
departments.  More  money  has  naturally  been  ex- 
pended for  equipment  in  this  direction  than  in  any 
other,  while  the  teaching  force  required  is  nearly 
equal  to  that  employed  in  the  languages  and  kindred 
departments.  A  further  and  very  definite  part  of  the 
expansion  effected  came  in  through  the  relative  place 
assigned  to  the  new  humanities:  History,  Economics, 
Sociology,  and  the  newer  forms  of  Political  Science. 
Here,  again,  the  increase  of  expenditure,  both  in  equip- 
ment and  teaching  force,  was  relatively  great.  Taking 
the  three  sections  into  which  the  curriculum  of  the 
college  is  divided,  —  the  departments  of  Language 
and  Literature;  Mathematics  and  the  Physical  and 
Natural  Sciences;  History,  the  Social  Sciences,  and 
Philosophy,  —  little  difference  appears  in  the  expense  of 
the  first  two  groups;  the  first  group  costing  somewhat 
more  for  salaries,  the  second  for  equipment.  The  third 
group  represents  about  three-fourths  of  the  expense 
of  either  of  the  others. 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  13 

The  extension  of  subject-matter  demanded  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  the  teaching  force ;  and  here  the 
college  called  to  its  service  not  only  its  own  graduates, 
who  had  received  the  proper  training,  but  well  quali- 
fied men  from  various  sources  entirely  irrespective  of 
their  college  affiliations.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  appointments  made  to  the  academic  faculty 
during  the  past  fifteen  years  (the  enumeration  here 
given  with  that  which  follows  does  not  include  the 
faculties  in  the  Associated  Schools),  forty-eight  were 
of  graduates  of  the  college,  seventy-two  were  of  gradu- 
ates of  other  colleges.  Classifying  these  appointments 
by  grades : 

To  professorships,  Dartmouth  graduates    .    .     4 
graduates  of  other  colleges   12 

—  16 

To  assistant  professorships,  Dartmouth  graduates    .    .  19 
graduates  of  other  colleges   25 

—  44 

To  instructorships,  Dartmouth  graduates    .    .  25 
graduates  of  other  colleges  35 

—  60. 120 

The  composition  of  the  present  academic  faculty  is  as  follows : 

Professors,  Dartmouth  graduates    .    .  14 

graduates  of  other  colleges   12 

—  26 

Assistant  professors,  Dartmouth  graduates    .    .  14 
graduates  of  other  colleges   14 

—  28 

Instructors,  Dartmouth  graduates    .    .     9 

graduates  of  other  colleges   10 

—  19     73 


14  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT     TUCKER 

Twelve  teachers  in  the  associated  schools  give 
instruction  in  the  college.  Thirty  colleges  and  uni- 
versities are  represented  through  the  bachelor's  de- 
gree by  present  members  of  the  academic  faculty 
and  twenty-four  are  represented  through  advanced 
degrees. 

A  further  stimulus  has  been  found  in  the  cooperation 
of  the  college  with  other  colleges  in  the  interest  of 
scholarship.  In  the  general  advance  of  standards 
each  college  has  reaped  an  educational  advantage 
proportionate  to  its  own  effort.  Methods  have  varied, 
determined  somewhat  by  local  conditions,  but  the 
desire  for  higher  standards  has  been  felt  in  common. 
Probably  the  question  of  the  relative  advantage  of 
admission  by  examination  or  by  certification  will 
never  be  settled  with  any  unanimity.  So  much  can 
fairly  be  said  against  each  system  as  ordinarily  ad- 
ministered that  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  bring  their 
advocates  to  an  agreement.  Some  ten  years  ago  the 
question  of  the  method  of  admission  was  very  thoroughly 
discussed  by  the  faculty,  the  faculty  deciding  by  a  con- 
siderable majority  that  the  method  of  certification  was, 
on  the  whole,  more  advantageous.  This  decision  was 
reached  not  only  because  of  dissatisfaction  with  some 
of  the  results  of  the  examination  method,  but  also 
because  of  changes  then  going  into  effect  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  certificate  system.  Previous  to  the 
establishment  of  the  New  England  College  Entrance 
Certificate  Board,  several  conferences  had  been  held 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  15 

between  representatives  of  Amherst,  Williams,  and 
Dartmouth  in  the  endeavor  to  establish  a  system  for 
the  certification  of  schools  as  well  as  of  students. 
These  conferences  were  suspended  when  the  general 
movement  among  the  New  England  Colleges  toward 
this  end  began,  the  colleges  above- named  joining  in 
the  movement.  The  principle  involved  in  this  move- 
ment was  the  recognition  of  the  school  as  the  unit  to 
be  considered  quite  as  much  as  the  individual  student. 
When  the  schools  and  academies  of  New  England 
were  chiefly  fitting  schools  for  colleges  and  when  many 
students  were  fitted  privately,  the  colleges  were  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  individual  student.  When  the 
change  came  about  through  which  the  public  schools 
became  in  part  fitting  schools,  the  colleges  were  con- 
cerned quite  as  much  with  the  schools  as  with  their 
product.  The  certification  of  schools  became,  there- 
fore, a  matter  of  very  great  consequence.  The  respon- 
sibilities which  it  called  for  on  the  part  of  the  schools, 
if  properly  met,  sanctioned  the  use  of  the  certificate  as 
a  means  of  gaining  admission  to  college.  It  has  been 
the  experience  of  the  Committee  on  Admission  that 
under  the  system  of  certification  of  schools  regulated 
and  administered  by  a  central  board,  the  scholarship  of 
students  applying  for  admission  has  steadily  increased. 
Schools  admitted  to  the  privilege  of  certification  are 
very  careful  about  endorsing  incompetent  students. 
Those  who  have  not  reached  a  relatively  high  stand- 
ing in  the  school  are  denied  a  certificate  and  are  obliged 


I 


16  REPORT     OF     PRESIDENT     TUCKER 

to  enter,  if  at  all,  through  examination.  The  college  is 
a  member  both  of  The  New  England  College  Entrance 
Certificate  Board  and  The  College  Entrance  Examina- 
tion Board.  The  last  year  54  per  cent  of  the  entering 
class  entered  by  certification,  25  per  cent  by  examina- 
tion, and  21  per  cent  by  certification  and  exami- 
nation. 

In  maintaining  and  in  endeavoring  to  advance  the 
standards  of  scholarship  three  steps  have  been  taken 
which  have  proved  helpful.  First,  the  elimination  of 
all  special,  in  the  sense  of  partial,  students.  The  rule 
eliminating  such  students  went  into  effect  in  1903. 
Second,  the  persistent  effort  to  reduce  the  number  of 
students  entering  under  conditions.  It  has  been  con- 
stantly felt  that  the  actual  test  of  admission  to  college 
is  not  the  requirement  stated  in  the  catalogue,  but  the 
degree  of  compliance  with  that  statement  on  the  part 
of  each  student  admitted.  Conditions,  of  course,  vary 
in  importance,  but  even  if  they  are  not  heavy  they  are 
discouraging  and  often  obstructive.  The  average  per 
cent  of  conditioned  students  for  the  past  ten  years  has 
been  reduced  to  28  per  cent,  and  the  time  in  which 
a  student  can  work  off  his  condition  has  been  re- 
duced to  one  year.  Third,  a  step  taken  more  recently, 
the  requirement  that  the  work  of  students  once  in 
college  shall  be  properly  spaced  so  that  any  loafing 
in  the  earlier  years  cannot  be  made  up  through  the 
crowding  of  work  in  the  later  years.  Students  who 
reach  a  given  standing  are  allowed  to  take  extra  hours, 


COVERING     HIS     ADMINISTRATION  17 

so  that  a  student  of  high  standing  may  complete  his 
course  in  three  and  a  half  years;  while  students  com- 
ing out  of  freshman  year  with  failures  are  not  allowed 
to  take  extra  hours  until  the  failures  have  been  made 
up  and  a  relatively  high  standing  has  been  reached. 
Under  the  working  of  this  rule,  until  its  effect  shall 
have  become  a  tradition,  as  many  students  will  prob- 
ably be  obliged  to  take  four  and  a  half  years  for  grad- 
uation as  are  now  able  to  graduate  within  three  and  a 
half  years  through  the  use  of  extra  hours  earned  by 
high  standing. 

I  am  frank  to  admit,  however,  that  the  advance- 
ment of  scholarship  through  such  methods  as  have 
been  referred  to  is  not  very  significant  on  the  positive 
side.  Rules,  requirements,  and  even  standards  do  not 
create  the  spirit  of  scholarship.  Their  chief  object  is 
gained  in  protecting  the  college  from  the  demoralizing 
influence  of  the  incompetent  or  lazy  student.  They 
do  not  stimulate  the  better  student.  Indeed,  I  some- 
times think  that  the  system  of  requirements  and  ex- 
actions, carried  out  as  it  must  be,  to  be  effective,  into 
careful  details,  creates  an  environment  distinctly  un- 
favorable to  the  best  scholarship.  The  allotted  task 
is  apt  to  fix  the  standard,  which  simply  means  that  the 
average  scholar  gradually  brings  the  better  men  down 
to  his  own  commonplace.  Here  and  there  a  man 
does  his  best  out  of  respect  to  his  own  ability.  Here 
and  there  a  man  pushes  out  beyond  the  common- 
place to  reach  the  fresh  or  seemingly  inaccessible  re- 


11 


1/ 


18  REPORT     OF     PRESIDENT     TUCKER 

suit.  But  the  fact  remains  that  the  enforcements 
which  are  applied  to  the  lower  men  do  not  prevent 
lapses  on  the  part  of  men  far  above.  And  yet  no 
college  can  exist  in  self-respect  without  the  clear  and 
sharp  enforcement  of  scholarship.  Grant  that  these 
do  not  stimulate,  grant  that  required  work  lacks  zest 
in  the  process  and  joy  in  the  result,  grant  that  the  man 
who  is  sent  to  the  library  seldom  if  ever  goes  there  on 
his  own  accord,  what  shall  be  done  with  the  vast  mass 
of  students  in  all  our  colleges  who  have  not  the  instinct 
nor  the  ambition  of  the  scholar?  Shall  colleges  be 
reduced  to  the  number  which  can  properly  be  labelled 
scholars  ?  That  test  would  reduce  them  to  at  most 
one-fourth  of  their  present  numbers.  Shall  colleges 
be  changed  into  technical  or  professional  schools  ?  The 
change  would  doubtless  double  the  amount  of  work 
now  done,  regardless  of  the  quality.  But  the  college 
is  in  the  educational  system  to  represent  the  spirit 
of  amateur  scholarship.  College  students  are  amateurs, 
not  professionals.  I  think  that  a  present  danger,  which 
in  time  may  suggest  a  remedy,  lies  in  the  fact  that 
instruction  in  our  colleges  is  chiefly  by  professionals, 
who  unconsciously  or  purposely  strive  to  reproduce 
the  methods  of  the  graduate  school.  The  scholarship 
of  the  undergraduate  cannot  be  of  the  same  type  with 
that  of  the  graduate  unless  it  is  prematurely  profes- 
sionalized. We  must  have  professionals  for  college 
instructors.  The  graduate  school  is  the  only  authorized 
and  sufficient  source  of  supply.    We  cannot  ask  these 


COVERING     HIS     ADMINISTRATION  19 

schools  to  change  their  standards  or  their  methods. 
What  we  have  the  right  to  ask  is  that  men  who  gradu- 
ate from  these  schools,  who  seek  positions  as  teachers 
in  colleges,  shall  straightway  proceed  to  study  the 
student  as  they  continue  to  study  the  subject.  Not, 
however,  by  the  same  methods,  but  rather  by  learning, 
or  perhaps  relearning  how  to  appreciate  the  mind  of 
the  undergraduate,  so  that  in  due  time  they  may  create 
the  spirit  of  amateur  scholarship. 

As  the  subject  of  scholarships  is  intimately  con- 
nected with  that  of  scholarship,  it  may  be  proper  to 
remark  that  the  system  of  scholarships  is  determined, 
beyond  the  point  of  beneficiary  aid,  by  scholarship. 
Beneficiary  aid,  within  the  limit  of  scholarship  funds, 
is  given  to  the  amount  of  $40,  to  students  who  need  it, 
who  attain  the  rank  of  60  on  a  scale  of  50  to  100.  Be- 
yond that  rank,  further  aid  is  determined  entirely  by 
standing.  As  it  is  sometimes  supposed  that  scholar- 
ships are  used  to  increase  the  growth  of  a  college,  it 
may  be  pertinent  to  state  that  the  amount  of  money 
given  in  scholarships  in  1892-3  under  an  enrollment 
of  314  undergraduates  was  $13,993,  and  that  the  amount 
of  money  given  in  scholarships  in  1907-8  under  an 
enrollment  of  1103  undergraduates  was  $23,900.  Of 
the  last  amount  $4630  was  in  the  form  of  loan  funds. 
The  growth  of  the  college  has  been  quite  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  of  money  given  in  scholarships. 
In  calling  attention  to  this  fact  I  do  not  deprecate  the 
establishment    of    scholarships.      On    the   contrary,   I 


20  REPORT     OF     PRESIDENT     TUCKER 

believe  that  the  number  is  too  limited  at  Dartmouth 
and  that  the  amount  given  in  each  case  is  too  small. 
I  do,  however,  deprecate  any  undue  reliance  upon  the 
scholarship  system.  A  college  training  is  a  matter  of 
interest  if  not  of  concern  to  the  community  at  large. 
It  is  of  the  nature  of  a  public  good.  This  much  has 
been  recognized  by  the  fact  that  colleges  and  univer- 
sities are  to  a  degree  eleemosynary  institutions  either 
by  endowment  or  by  taxation.  The  fact,  however,  re- 
mains that  a  college  education,  like  an  apprenticeship 
in  business,  is  a  matter  of  private  as  well  as  of  public 
good,  and  as  such  is  worthy  of  like  effort  and  of  equal 
struggle  or  sacrifice. 

Ill 

Fortunately  there  was  no  question  of  policy  in  the 
development  of  the  collective  or  social  life  of  the  col- 
lege. The  traditions  of  Dartmouth  were  in  an  un- 
usual degree  those  of  an  academic  democracy.  It 
was  necessary  only  to  apply  these  traditions  to  new 
circumstances.  Reliance  has  been  placed  upon  quite 
diverse  agencies  in  the  endeavor  to  maintain  the  spirit 
of  democracy  and  equality  among  the  students.  First 
among  the  agencies  was  the  enlargement  of  the  dor- 
mitory system  culminating  in  the  establishment  of  the 
college  club  and  commons.  I  have  already  referred 
to  the  sanitary  advantages  of  the  dormitory  system. 
Sanitation  in  any  acceptable  form  requires  buildings 
of  thorough  construction,  well  heated  and  lighted,  and 


COVERING     HIS     ADMINISTRATION  21 

abundantly  supplied  with  water.  Whatever  may  be 
added  to  gratify  taste  these  requirements  are  absolute, 
and  to  be  made  effective  they  must  be  supplemented 
by  a  careful  system  of  inspection.  The  social  distinc- 
tion, however,  of  the  dormitory  system  is  that  it  secures 
a  social  life  of  comparative  equality  among  students. 
If  all  dormitories  have  all  the  essentials  of  comfort, 
the  variations  introduced  by  wealth  are  no  more  than 
fairly  belong  to  individual  tastes.  The  price  of  rooms 
in  each  dormitory  varies  sufficiently  to  enable  students 
of  very  different  pecuniary  condition  to  come  together 
under  the  same  roof.  The  construction  of  dormitories 
has  kept  pace  with  the  numerical  growth  of  the  college. 
Students  are  free  to  room  as  they  please  in  the  village 
or  in  the  college  buildings.  The  building  of  private 
dormitories  has  not  been  encouraged.  There  are  at 
present  no  private  dormitories  at  Hanover.  The  policy 
of  the  college  in  reference  to  fraternities,  of  which  there 
are  at  present  twenty,  has  been  that  of  entire  hos- 
pitality, but  fraternity  spirit  has  not  been  encouraged 
to  the  degree  of  supplanting  college  spirit.  There  is 
a  rule  of  the  trustees  limiting  the  number  of  residents 
in  a  fraternity  house,  thus  preventing  any  fraternity 
from  withdrawing  its  members  entirely  from  the  col- 
lege fellowship.  This  rule  of  the  trustees  meets  with 
the  approval  of  the  student  body.  College  sentiment 
is  strong  enough  to  make  all  lesser  interests  subordi- 
nate. The  erection  of  College  Hall  in  1900  with  its 
club  rooms,  dining  hall,  and  various  accommodations 


L 


22  REPORT     OF     PRESIDENT     TUCKER 

for  undergraduates,  graduates,  and  faculty,  has  proved 
of  great  service  in  maintaining  and  developing  college 
unity.  Supported  by  the  entire  student  body,  every 
student  feels  that  it  is  his  home.  It  not  only  brings 
college  men  together  on  occasions,  but  also  in  the 
easy  intercourse  of  the  daily  routine.  So  great  has 
been  its  effect  upon  the  collective  life  of  the  college  that 
I  think  that  it  is  quite  within  bounds  to  say  that  the 
spirit  of  unity  has  more  than  kept  pace  with  the  growth 
in  numbers. 

-  Another  agency  which  has  proved  of  no  little  value 
in  maintaining  the  democratic  spirit  is  athletics.  I  do 
not  care  to  discuss  at  length  the  advantages  or  dis- 
advantages of  athletics  in  the  development  of  our 
American  colleges.  I  think  that  the  physical  value  of  | 
athletics  may  be  overestimated.  In  individual  cases 
they  may  be  a  detriment  to  scholarship.  I  have  steadily 
and,  as  I  think  consistently,  approved  of  athletics  for 
essentially  moral  reasons.  I  am  convinced  that  ath- 
letics greatly  diminish,  if  they  do  not  rule  out,  a  good 
many  mean  and  some  vicious  tendencies  in  our  col- 
leges. The  question  of  amusement  in  the  college  of 
the  country  is  not  a  question  which  any  college  so 
located  can  afford  to  ignore.  The  city  student  who 
takes  his  recreation  at  the  theater  may  find  all  that  he 
desires  in  the  way  of  excitement  for  good  or  ill.  If 
healthful  recreations  are  not  allowed  the  country 
student  to  the  degree  of  interest  he  will  seek  out  and 
invent  his  own  ways  of  amusement,  according  to  his 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  23 

own  notions  of  pleasurable  excitement.  I  do  not 
overlook  the  interruptions  incident  to  the  absence  of 
teams,  or  to  the  migration  of  students  on  occasion  of 
great  games.  Nor  do  I  overlook  the  evils  which  are 
incident  to  excitements  of  any  kind.  But  when  these 
inconveniences  and  liabilities  have  been  reckoned  with, 
I  place  a  large  moral  balance  to  the  credit  of  athletics. 

As  a  part,  however,  of  this  moral  balance,  I  add  the 
effect  of  athletics  in  upholding  the  spirit  of  equality. 
So  long  as  excellence  in  athletics  is  a  distinction  among 
college  men,  it  opens  a  way  to  college  honor  entirely 
irrespective  of  social  conditions.  Money  will  not  buy 
this  distinction  any  more  than  it  will  buy  scholarship. 
There  are  a  good  many  things  in  college  life  centering 
around  wealth  which  enter  into  the  "unearned  incre- 
ment," but  the  "unearned  increment "  can  never 
equal  in  value  that  which  has  been  earned  through 
open  competition  of  any  kind.  In  my  judgment 
the  college  athlete  should  not  be  classed  with  the 
college  loafer  in  the  judgment  of  the  faculty.  A  college 
athlete  is  an  athlete  who  meets  the  ordinary  require- 
ments of  admission  and  of  standing;  otherwise  he 
has  no  place  in  college.  He  is  not  like  the  scholar 
the  distinct  product  of  the  college,  but  he  is  not  an 
unworthy  member  of  the  college.  He  contributes 
something,  in  individual  cases  he  may  contribute  very 
much,  to  that  human  element  without  which  college 
life  becomes  unsocial  and  oftentimes  unreal. 

When  I  add  the  agency  of  religious  fellowship  to 


,' 


24  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

the  agencies  already  named,  I  think  that  I  shall  not  be 
misunderstood  by  graduates,  if  my  remark  is  not  ap- 
preciated by  undergraduates.  In  the  retrospect  of  the 
college  course,  I  think  that  few  men  would  be  disposed 
to  leave  out  of  the  reckoning  the  social  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  influence  of  Rollins  Chapel. 

The  meeting  of  college  men  day  by  day  in  the  most 
serious  relation  in  which  they  can  come  together,  all 
minor  differences  of  opinion  and  beliefs  cast  aside,  is  a 
powerful  agent,  though  working  unconsciously  toward 
unity  and  equality.  On  the  occasion  of  reoccupying 
Rollins  Chapel,  after  the  use  of  Webster  Hall  for  a 
year,  while  Rollins  Chapel  was  being  enlarged,  I 
remarked  upon  this  aspect  of  the  chapel  service  in 
the  following  words : 

"  The  service  in  Rollins  Chapel  stands  distinctly  for 
two  things.  First,  for  the  single  idea  of  religious 
worship,  with  its  inherent  incentives  and  inspirations 
toward  the  daily  duty.  Rollins  Chapel  has  never 
been  a  place  for  anything  other  than  worship.  It  has 
never  been  a  place  for  lectures  or  concerts  or  for  those 
assemblies  and  uses  not  infrequently  associated  with 
houses  of  religious  worship.  The  old  connection 
between  the  New  England  meeting  house  and  the 
town  meeting  was  in  its  day  natural  and  honorable. 
There  are  still  communities  in  which  the  traditions 
of  the  earlier  days  may  well  be  preserved.  But  an  aca- 
demic chapel  should,  in  my  judgment,  always  be  kept 
to  its  one  high  and  separate  office.      For  this  reason  I 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  25 

have  rigorously  excluded  ordinary  college  notices  or 
ordinary  college  talks.  I  think  that  you  will  bear 
me  witness  that  I  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  intro- 
ducing matters  of  college  discipline  or  of  college 
activities  into  this  place.  I  have  felt  that  our  environ- 
ment here  should  leave  but  one  impression  upon  our 
minds,  that  of  reverence,  aspiration,  and  hope,  asso- 
ciated with  duty.  To  this  end,  Rollins  Chapel  has  been 
and  is  conducive  in  every  part.  We  have  missed  some- 
thing of  the  tone  of  chapel  service  in  Webster  Hall. 
The  reverent  attitude  and  spirit  of  the  students  while 
there  has  been  in  all  respects  all  that  could  be  desired. 
But  we  have  felt,  I  think,  the  divided  associations  of 
the  place,  and  are,  therefore,  glad  to  return,  or  to  take 
our  place  in  Rollins  Chapel. 

"Second,  the  service  in  Rollins  Chapel  stands  for  the 
freedom  and  unity  of  religious  faith.  It  is  an  academic, 
not  an  ecclesiastical  religious  service.  I  do  not  recall 
ever  having  invited  any  person  outside  a  member  of 
the  faculty  to  occupy  this  place  in  my  absence.  How- 
ever much  I  should  have  wished  to  show  my  personal 
respect  for  the  representatives  of  various  religious 
communions,  who  have  been  from  time  to  time  with 
us,  I  have  wished  to  emphasize  the  fact  beyond  all 
controversy,  that  here  is  a  place  where  all  men  who 
have  religious  aspirations  in  any  form  may  unite  in 
religious  service,  while  at  the  same  time  honoring  in 
clear  and  unmistakable  terms  the  faith  of  the  founders 
of  the  college. 


26  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

"The  Sunday  service  in  Rollins  Chapel  has  been  held 
at  an  hour  when  there  could  be  no  conflict  with  the  ser- 
vices of  the  churches  of  the  town.  Students  have  been 
urged  to  attend  these  various  services  according  to 
their  religious  training  or  religious  preferences.  Loy- 
alty to  one's  church  connection,  wherever  it  exists, 
has  been  constantly  inculcated,  —  more  constantly 
illustrated,  I  ought  to  say,  by  students  in  the  Catholic 
communion  than  by  those  in  other  communions,  — 
but  in  this  service  which  brings  the  entire  college 
together  there  has  been  a  sensitive  regard  to  the  rights 
of  varying  religious  opinions  and  of  religious  faiths. 
It  is,  of  course,  too  much  to  expect  that  the  miracle  of 
Pentecost  should  be  repeated  and  that  as  we  come 
together  day  by  day,  or  Sunday  by  Sunday,  we  should 
all  hear  the  truth,  or  worship,  *  every  man  in  his  own 
language  wherein  he  was  born.'  That  is  not  necessary. 
What  is  necessary  is  that  we  should  recognize  those 
fundamental  obligations  and  incentives  of  religion  in 
which  we  are  all  substantially  agreed.'' 

IV 

Owing  to  local  conditions  the  process  of  expansion 
began  with  contraction.  The  title  of  the  annual  cata- 
logue for  1892  ran  "Catalogue  of  Dartmouth  College 
and  the  Associated  Institutions."  The  associated 
institutions  were  the  Medical  School  (1798),  the 
Chandler  School  of  Science  and  the  Arts  (1851),  the 
New  Hampshire  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Me- 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  27 

chanic  Arts  (1866),  and  the  Thayer  School  of  Civil 
Engineering  and  Architecture  (1871).  Early  in  the 
academic  year  1902-3  the  New  Hampshire  college  of 
Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts  was  removed  to 
Durham.  At  a  meeting  of  the  trustees,  held  December 
5,  1892,  a  report  of  the  visitors  of  the  Chandler  School, 
which  prepared  the  way  for  the  incorporation  of  the 
Chandler  School  into  the  College,  was  adopted  and  the 
incorporation  was  effected.  The  standards  of  admission 
were  advanced  and  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science 
became  thereafter  a  recognized  degree  of  the  college. 
There  remained  the  Medical  School,  and  the  Thayer 
School  to  be  readjusted,  and  later  (1900)  the  Tuck 
School  was  added. 

The  Medical  School,  originating  in  the  establishment 
of  a  professorship  of  Medicine  in  the  college  in  1798, 
first  filled  by  Professor  Nathan  Smith,  has  had  a  varied 
fortune,  known  sometimes  as  the  Dartmouth  Medical 
School,  at  other  times  as  the  New  Hampshire  Medical 
College,  but  actually  during  the  most  of  its  existence 
a  private  school  under  the  support  as  well  as  under 
the  control  of  its  faculty.  The  general  relation  of  the 
trustees  of  the  college  to  the  school  was  through  the 
conferring  of  degrees.  The  change  to  a  formal  control 
of  the  school  by  the  board  of  trustees,  with  provision 
for  its  support,  was  gradual,  including  the  substitution 
of  a  four  years'  curriculum  in  place  of  a  three  years' 
curriculum;  the  extension  of  laboratory  courses  in  the 
first  two  years  preparatory  to  the  clinical  work  of  the 


28  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

school;  the  erection  of  a  new  medical  building,  the 
Nathan  Smith  Laboratory;  and  finally  the  adoption 
of  a  system  in  connection  with  the  advancement  of 
requirements  for  admission,  through  which  students 
in  the  B.S.  course  of  the  college  could  enroll  in  the 
Medical  School  at  the  beginning  of  junior  year  and 
students  in  the  A.B.  at  the  beginning  of  senior  year. 
The  bequest  of  $40,000  by  Mrs.  Martha  W.  Brown 
(1897)  of  Manchester,  as  a  memorial  to  her  husband 
William  W.  Brown,  M.D.,  constitutes  the  first  en- 
dowment, apart  from  scholarships,  which  can  be  applied 
to  the  Medical  School. 

The  funds  of  the  Thayer  School  of  Civil  Engineering 
and  Architecture  are  lodged  with  the  trustees  of  the 
college,  and  the  school  is  under  their  general  control,  but 
it  is  also  under  the  active  supervision  of  the  board  of 
overseers.  When  the  Chandler  School  of  Science  and 
the  Arts  was  incorporated  into  the  college,  a  definite 
arrangement  was  made  through  which  candidates  for 
the  B.S.  degree  could  enroll  in  the  Thayer  School  at 
the  beginning  of  senior  year.  This  privilege  has  since 
been  extended  to  candidates  for  the  A.B.  degree. 
More  recently  the  relation  of  the  trustees  to  the  school 
has  been  made  more  definite  and  responsible,  involving 
provision  for  maintenance  and  enlargement. 

The  Tuck  School  of  Administration  and  Finance 
grew  out  of  a  provision  in  the  gift  of  Edward  Tuck, 
already  referred  to,  making  allowance  for  "additional 
professorships  which  may  in  the  future  be  established 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  29 

in  the  college  proper  or  in  post  graduate  departments, 
should  such  be  added  at  any  time  to  the  college  course." 
It  was  considered  that  the  subjects  centering  in  Eco- 
nomics could  not  be  carried  to  their  legitimate  and  prac- 
tical conclusion  within   the  college  curriculum  without 
disarranging  the  curriculum.     The  Tuck  School  was 
made  virtually  a  graduate  school  with  the  same  privilege 
of  enrollment  at  the  beginning  of  senior  year  as  had 
been  allowed  for  the  Thayer  School.     The  Tuck  School 
has  never  been  under  the  supervision  of  any  outside 
board,  as  in  the  case  of  the  visitors  upon  the  Chandler 
Foundation  or  of  the  overseers  of  the  Thayer  School. 
The  trustees  are,  however,  considering  at  the  present 
time  the  advisability  of  creating  an  advisory  or  exam- 
ining committee  made  up  chiefly  of  those  who  have 
been  or  who  may  be  identified  with  the  Tuck  School 
as    lecturers.      The    school,    however,    in    its    internal 
arrangements  is  under  a  distinct  and  separate  manage- 
ment.   The  director  of  the  school  and  certain  members 
of  its  faculty  are  entirely  separate  from  the  academic 
faculty,  while  other  instructors  are  on  both  faculties. 
Students  who  enroll  in  the  Tuck  School,  as  in  the 
Thayer  School,  before  receiving  the  bachelor's  degree, 
elect  the  courses   in   either   school   in   their   entirety. 
Students  from  the  college  are  not  allowed  to  take  special 
courses  in  either  of  the  schools.     The  Tuck  Building, 
also  a  gift  of  Mr.  Edward  Tuck,  makes  ample  provision 
for  the  growth  of  the  school,  while  at  present  accom- 
modating departments  which  are  naturally  associated 


30  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

with  it.  The  ethical  aims  of  the  school  have  been  so 
clearly  and  forcibly  stated  by  Mr.  Tuck  that  I  quote, 
for  the  information  of  the  alumni,  the  following  state- 
ment: 

In  the  conduct  of  the  school  to  which  you  have  done  my 
father's  memory  the  honor  of  attaching  his  name,  I  trust 
that  certain  elementary  but  vital  principles,  on  which  he 
greatly  dwelt  in  his  advice  to  young  men,  whether  entering 
upon  a  professional  or  business  career,  may  not  be  lost  sight 
of  in  the  variety  of  technical  subjects  of  which  the  regular 
curriculum  is  composed.  Briefly,  these  principles  or  maxims 
are:  absolute  devotion  to  the  career  which  one  selects,  and 
to  the  interests  of  one's  superior  officers  or  employers;  the 
desire  and  determination  to  do  more  rather  than  less  than 
one's  required  duties;  perfect  accuracy  and  promptness  in 
all  undertakings,  and  absence  from  one's  vocabulary  of  the 
word  "forget";  never  to  vary  a  hair's  breadth  from  the 
truth  nor  from  the  path  of  strictest  honesty  and  honor,  with 
perfect  confidence  in  the  wisdom  of  doing  right  as  the  surest 
means  of  achieving  success.  To  the  maxim  that  honesty  is 
the  best  policy  should  be  added  another:  that  altruism  is 
the  highest  and  best  form  of  egoism  as  a  principle  of  conduct 
to  be  followed  by  those  who  strive  for  success  and  happiness 
in  public  or  business  relations  as  well  as  in  those  of  private 
life. 

The  schools  associated  with  Dartmouth  College  are 
for  the  most  part  an  inheritance,  but  the  principle  of 
their  relation  to  the  college  is  entirely  applicable  to 
present  conditions  and  in  no  way  involves  the  question 
of  the  change  of  the  college  into  a  university.  As  I 
remarked  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  New  York  alumni, 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  31 

"without  change  of  name,  the  college  may  take  on 
new  functions  and  advance  to  grades  of  instruction 
which  are  not  now  practicable.  A  great  library,  with 
corresponding  laboratory  facilities,  would  at  any  time 
give  the  physical  basis  for  the  teaching  which  could 
support  a  graduate  college." 

The  policy  of  concentration  which  has  been  carried 
out  in  dealing  with  the  associated  schools  has  been  ap- 
plied in  the  administration  of  the  college.  The  ex- 
pansion at  this  point  has  been  almost  as  marked  as  at 
the  point  of  instruction,  but  the  constant  effort  has 
been  made  to  concentrate  with  a  view  to  economy  and 
efficiency.  The  board  of  trustees  has  uniformly  pre- 
pared and  usually  carried  out  its  activities  through 
committees.  Owing  to  the  small  number  of  the  board 
(twelve,  including  the  governor  of  the  state,  ex-officio) 
all  of  its  members  have  been  responsibly  identified 
with  all  action  taken,  throughout  the  entire  process. 
The  larger  work  of  the  board  has  been  conducted 
through  three  committees,  —  the  committee  on  finance, 
the  committee  on  instruction,  and  the  committee  on 
buildings  and  improvements.  The  president  is  a  mem- 
ber ex-officio  of  each  committee,  but  the  chairman  of 
each  committee  presides  at  its  meetings  and  presents  the 
business.  There  are  four  stated  meetings  of  the  board 
during  the  year,  but  a  year  has  seldom  passed  in  which 
special  or  adjourned  meetings  have  not  been  held. 

In  the  more  immediate  administration  of  the  college 
the  president  has  been  aided  by  an  increasing  corps 


32  REPORT    OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

elected  or  assigned  to  the  specific  work  of  administra- 
tion. Owing  to  the  frequent  and  sometimes  protracted 
absence  of  the  president  on  college  business  Professor 
John  K.  Lord  has  served,  by  assignment  of  the  trustees, 
as  acting  president  of  the  college  whenever  the  presi- 
dent has  been  absent.  During  the  last  two  years  the 
duties  of  the  acting  president  have  been  more  constant 
and  more  onerous.  I  should,  however,  give  a  wrong 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  this  office  if  I  limited  its 
duties  to  periods  of  absence  on  the  part  of  the  presi- 
dent. The  relation  of  acting-president  Lord  has  been 
quite  as  much  through  counsel  and  advice,  which  I 
have  freely  sought,  as  through  more  formal  duties.  In 
this  aspect  of  his  service  to  the  college  I  desire  to  ex- 
press my  indebtedness  for  constant  and  most  helpful 
assistance  during  the  period  of  my  administration. 

The  office  of  dean  of  the  college  was  created  in  1893, 
and  Professor  Emerson,  then  Appleton  Professor  of 
Natural  Philosophy,  was  assigned  to  the  position.  In 
1899  Dean  Emerson  resigned  his  position  as  Appleton 
Professor  and  has  since  that  date  given  his  entire  time 
to  the  duties  of  his  office.  The  office  of  dean  has 
grown  so  steadily  in  the  various  kinds  of  work  which 
have  been  relegated  to  it  that  it  will  soon  require  redefi- 
nition, both  as  regards  the  authority  of  the  dean  and 
the  range  of  his  duties. 

In  1905  the  office  of  secretary  of  the  college  was  es- 
tablished, and  Mr.  Ernest  M.  Hopkins,  class  of  1901, 
who  had  been  for  four  years  private  secretary  to  the 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  33 

president,  was  elected  secretary.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
define  in  exact  terms  the  duties  of  this  office,  they  are 
so  varied.  The  secretary  has  to  do  with  the  internal 
organization  and  life  of  the  college,  with  many  of  its 
intercollegiate  relations,  with  the  alumni,  and,  through 
a  wide  range  of  correspondence,  with  the  public  so  far 
as  it  is  related  to  the  college.  The  academic  functions 
associated  with  the  office  are  occasional.  The  constant 
duty  consists  in  attention  to  those  important  details  of 
college  administration  which  are  often  as  significant  as 
its  general  policy. 

In  1907  the  office  of  the  dean  was  relieved  of  part 
of  its  routine  work  through  the  appointment  of  a  regis- 
trar, a  position  which  since  that  time  has  been  filled 
by  Mr.  Howard  M.  Tibbetts,  class  of  1900.  At  the 
same  time  the  office  work  of  the  treasurer  was  in  part 
relieved  by  the  appointment  of  an  auditing  clerk,  a  po- 
sition filled  by  Mr.  Halsey  C.  Edgerton,  class  of  1907. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  office  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Buildings,  now  filled  by  Mr.  Edgar  H. 
Hunter,  class  of  1901,  a  position  which  has  become 
each  year  of  more  and  more  importance,  involving  as  it 
does  nearly  all  the  general  work  of  construction  as  well 
as  that  of  the  maintenance  of  the  college  plant.  Men- 
tion should  also  be  made  of  the  position  of  the  comp- 
troller of  the  College  Commons,  originally  held  by  Mr. 
Henry  N.  Teague  of  the  class  of  1900,  now  combined 
with  that  of  manager  of  the  Hanover  Inn,  the  two  posi- 
tions being  held  by  Mr.  Arthur  P.  Fairfield,  class  of  1900. 


34  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

The  character  of  the  administrative  work  of  the 
faculty  has  greatly  changed  within  the  period  of  recon- 
struction, due  chiefly  to  two  causes,  —  the  increase  of 
the  college  in  numbers  and  the  organization  of  depart- 
ments. When  the  faculty  was  small  all  business  was 
transacted  in  the  committee  of  the  whole.  The  chief 
business  was  the  regulation  of  the  students.  Few  sub- 
jects of  general  educational  interest  appear  upon  the 
earlier  records  of  the  faculty.  The  records  are  made 
up  for  the  most  part  of  the  dealings  of  the  faculty  with 
individuals.  With  the  increase  of  the  college  in  num- 
bers both  of  faculty  and  students  it  became  necessary 
to  deal  with  individual  cases  through  delegated  au- 
thority. The  dean's  office  became  the  clearing  house 
for  all  cases  of  minor  discipline  as  well  as  for  the  peti- 
tions of  students.  Finally,  the  whole  question  of  disci- 
pline consisting,  as  is  now  almost  entirely  the  fact,  of 
the  treatment  of  students  who  fall  behind  or  fail  in 
scholarship,  was  referred  with  power  to  the  dean  and 
to  the  committee  on  administration.  In  like  manner 
the  committee  on  athletics,  and  on  organizations  other 
than  athletics,  have  been  given  full  control  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  each,  as  has  also  the  committee  on  the 
library  within  its  jurisdiction.  The  committees  on 
admission,  on  the  curriculum,  and  on  graduate  instruc- 
tion, pass  on  questions  submitted  to  them,  and  pre- 
pare subjects  for  the  consideration  of  the  faculty.  The 
meetings  of  the  faculty  held  monthly  are  usually  meet- 
ings for  the  discussion   of  reports  from   the  various 


COVERING     HIS    ADMINISTRATION  35 

committees.  As  the  faculty  now  nominates  its  own 
committees,  it  has  complete  authority  in  the  manage- 
ment of  its  affairs  within  the  powers  delegated  to  it 
by  the  trustees. 

The  organization  of  the  different  departments  de- 
pends upon  their  size,  the  character  of  their  equipment, 
and  the  relation  in  which  any  one  department  may 
stand  to  the  group  with  which  it  is  immediately  associ- 
ated. The  head  of  the  department  lays  out  and  assigns 
work  in  conference  with  his  colleagues,  and  advises 
with  the  president  in  regard  to  recommendations  for 
the  appointment  of  instructors  and  assistants.  The 
dividing  line  between  general  administration  and  the 
administrative  functions  of  the  various  departments 
of  instruction,  or  of  the  faculty  at  large,  is  not  entirely 
clear.  A  period  of  reconstruction  and  expansion  with 
its  rapid  increase  of  administrative  service  and  its 
equally  rapid  growth  in  departments  of  instruction, 
naturally  gives  rise  to  questions  about  academic  gov- 
ernment. The  complexity  of  interests  involved  creates 
a  sensitive  situation.  Efficiency  requires  unity  in  ad- 
ministration, centralized  rather  than  diffused  respon- 
sibility. On  the  other  hand  the  varying  interests  of 
departments,  differences  in  the  academic  training  of 
members  of  the  faculty,  apparent  and  sometimes  real 
inequalities  in  the  rate  of  promotion,  and  above  all, 
fundamental  variations  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  ob- 
ject of  the  college  discipline  as  well  as  in  regard  to 
methods,  all  tend  to  the  assertion  in  one  form  or  an- 


36  REPORT     OF    PRESIDENT    TUCKER 

other  of  individualism.  I  doubt  not  that  there  is  a 
certain  sacrifice  of  individual  rights  involved  in  the 
highest  efficiency  of  administration.  I  am  certain  that 
all  concerned  lose  their  rights  and  much  beside  from 
inefficiency  of  administration.  Whether  the  period 
upon  which  the  college  is  about  to  enter  will  allow  a 
larger  division  of  responsibility  or  not,  must  be  deter- 
mined by  experience.  Certain  powers  and  rights  have 
been  fixed  by  the  charter  of  the  college,  but  within  the 
limit  of  these  guarantees,  the  question  of  administra- 
tion itself,  in  some  of  its  principles  and  in  many  of  its 
methods,  remains  a  problem  to  be  wrought  out  by  each 
succeeding  administration. 

In  reviewing  the  period  of  reconstruction  and  ex- 
pansion, which  covers  the  past  sixteen  years,  I  have  been 
conscious  of  the  danger  of  over-emphasizing  changes. 
Compared  with  the  whole  history  of  the  college,  no 
period,  apart  from  the  periods  of  its  "founding  and 
re-founding,"  has  large  significance.  I  have,  however, 
thought  it  desirable  that  there  should  be  a  clear  under- 
standing of  that  period  in  the  history  of  the  college 
with  which  the  great  body  of  living  graduates  is  in 
general  familiar,  and  over  which  it  has  exercised,  with 
more  or  less  direct  knowledge,  the  control  through  its 
representation  on  the  board  of  trustees.  Such  an  under- 
standing may  be  of  equal  advantage  in  conserving  the 
results  of  right  action  and  in  correcting  the  effect  of 
mistakes.  Whatever  of  success  has  attended  the  work 
of  reconstruction  is  due  entirely  to  the  spirit  of  co- 


COVERING    HIS    ADMINISTRATION  37 

operation  which  has  pervaded  all  who  have  been  con- 
cerned in  it.  Each  part  of  the  body  corporate  and  in- 
dividual has  contributed  its  appropriate  and  its  timely 
share.  Let  me  in  a  word  acknowledge  these  mutually 
contributing  forces:  the  courage  of  the  trustees  at 
critical  times,  ensuring  the  consummation  of  their 
purpose;  the  patience  of  the  faculty  in  its  constructive 
work,  each  department  waiting  its  time  in  the  gen- 
eral advancement;  the  contagious  enthusiasm  of  the 
students,  responsible  more  than  any  one  cause  for  the 
numerical  growth  of  the  college;  and  the  responsive- 
ness of  the  alumni  to  plans  which  as  put  before  them 
seemed  to  be  only  possibilities. 

I  can  ask  for  my  successor  nothing  more  and  nothing 
less  than  the  continuance  of  this  spirit.  I  go  further 
and  suggest  to  you  as  alumni,  that  the  most  encouraging 
expression  of  this  spirit  which  you  can  give  to  him  is 
the  assurance  that  you  allow  and  expect  on  his  part 
perfect  freedom  of  initiative.  The  problems  now  be- 
fore the  college  are  not  those  of  reconstruction  and  ex- 
pansion. Whenever  the  new  issues  are  defined,  and 
the  policy  designed  to  meet  them  is  set  forth,  the  timely 
and  effective  ways  of  cooperation  will  disclose  them- 
selves. I  am  confident  that  the  graduates  of  Dartmouth 
will  not  overlook  or  neglect  the  greater  opportunities 
which  lie  in  the  immediate  future  of  the  College. 

William  Jewett  Tucker. 

Dartmouth  College,  June  7,  1909. 


38  REPORT     OF     PRESIDENT     TUCKER 

The  concluding  words  of  the  above  report,  referring  to 
my  successor,  were  necessarily  impersonal,  as  they  were 
written  before  the  election  of  Professor  Ernest  Fox  Nichols 
of  Columbia  University.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  arrest 
the  report  as  it  goes  to  press  to  add  the  following  com- 
munication which  was  sent  to  The  Dartmouth  upon  the 
announcement  of  Doctor  Nichols*  election: 

To  the  Editor  of  The  Dartmouth: 

As  there  is  no  immediate  opportunity  of  presenting 
Doctor  Nichols  to  the  undergraduates,  allow  me  to  give  a 
word  of  introduction  through  your  columns.  Doctor  Nichols 
belongs  to  our  fellowship  by  the  right  of  five  years  of  brilliant 
service  in  the  chair  of  Physics,  a  service  recognized  by  the 
trustees  by  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Science.  But 
he  is  much  more  closely  one  of  us  by  his  sympathies.  I  have 
never  attended  a  dinner  of  Dartmouth  men  in  New  York  at 
which  he  was  not  present.  He  comes  back  to  us  as  he  left 
us,  his  heart  unchanged.  He  returns  with  a  reputation  which 
has  been  increasing  year  by  year  at  home  and  abroad.  Few 
scholars  in  any  department  have  gained  the  position  which 
he  holds  as  a  man  of  forty.  It  is  also  his  distinction  that  he 
has  won  his  place  in  a  department  crowded  with  workers 
intent  on  research.  The  change  which  he  makes  to  adminis- 
tration does  not  require  of  him  the  sacrifice  or  repression  of 
powers  which  have  given  him  success.  Doctor  Nichols  is 
essentially  a  man  of  imagination.  He  sees  things  that  are  to 
be,  as  well  as  things  that  are.  For  this  reason  I  anticipate 
from  him  as  brilliant  a  service  in  administration  as  he  has 
rendered  in  research  or  instruction.  I  anticipate  no  less  that 
through  his  personality  he  will  establish  himself  at  once  in 
the  hearts  of  undergraduates  and  graduates  of  the  College. 

W.  J.  T. 

June  12. 


^Hi    '■■'■■ 


3  0112  105624099 


I    ■  ■  S»  h  ■  • . 


Hi 


mm 


m 


Krkffrt 


mim 


iB*&k 


